AMMAN/DUBAI, 12 November 2005 — Four Iraqis, including a husband and wife, carried out the triple suicide bombings against luxury hotels in the Jordanian capital, Al-Qaeda in Iraq said in an Internet statement yesterday.

“All the members of the group were Iraqis,” said the statement, whose authenticity could not be verified.

“The group charged with planning, preparing and implementing (the attacks) was made up of three men: Commanders Abu Khabib, Abu Muaz and Abu Omaira. Their fourth was the venerable sister Om Omaira,” said the statement.

“Om Omaira chose to follow her husband, Abu Omaira, on the path of a martyr.”

At least 57 people died and around 100 were wounded in suicide bomb blasts at three hotels in the Jordanian capital on Wednesday night.

In Amman a hospital source said the head of a woman believed to be a suicide bomber was found among the remains of the victims at one of the hotels. “We received a woman’s head and mangled body remains,” the source said. “This usually is the case when you are dealing with a suicide, the body is ripped apart and often the head is intact. This was such a case.”

The Internet statement said the attackers used explosives belts “in order to hit their targets with more precision.”

It said “Abu Khabib launched the first attack, on the Radisson (SAS hotel), followed by Abu Muaz, who chose the next of the Grand Hyatt, while Abu Omaira and his wife chose the nest of the Days Inn.”

Jordan’s security forces were interrogating scores of Arab suspects including Iraqis yesterday in connection with the bombings.

“The authorities are interrogating a wide range of suspects from different nationalities, including Iraqi nationals,” Interior Minister Awni Yarfas said.

Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher told a press conference he could not confirm claims by the Iraqi branch of Al-Qaeda that three men and a woman, all of them Iraqis had carried out the attacks.

Most of those killed were Jordanians, many of them guests at wedding parties at the Grand Hyatt and Radisson hotels. Of the 96 injured, officials say 17 remain in critical condition. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Jordan yesterday, having delayed his trip after the bombs, and met King Abdallah and other officials.

Meanwhile, several thousand demonstrators marched through Amman yesterday in a spirited display of unity following triple suicide attacks that killed 57 people and sent shock waves through one of the Middle East’s most stable nations.

— Additional input from agencies